CfP: War and Words Conference

Tagung
Institute of English Studies, University of Wroc³aw, KuŸnicza 22, Wroc³aw, Polen
26. bis 27. September 2014
Stichtag: 15. Juni 2014

From the epic poems of Homer and Virgil to the comic strips of Art Spiegelmann, war has been a recurrent theme in literature. Moreover, it has frequently been a crucial factor in determining the shape of different literary movements, such as Romanticism, propelled by the outbreak of the French Revolution, or Modernism, influenced by the tragic experiences of the Great War. The year 2014, the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, seems an opportune moment to comment on the complex relationship between war and words. The ambition of our conference is to provide a space for such critical considerations.

We invite papers on various ways in which the worlds of warfare and textuality interrelate. We are interested both in contributions to the various genres of imaginative literature and in those exploring writings that have documentary value: ephemeral texts, private diaries, letters, leaflets and journalism. Varied aspects of the relationship between literature, ephemeral writings and war are listed below. However, we are open to new proposals, providing they represent a perspective on the interplay between words and war, texts and military conflicts. Potential topics might include, but are not limited to:

(1) Ideology & rhetorics of war:
propaganda, metaphor, frames, domestication of war, concepts of nationhood, nationality, patriotism, pacifism, militarism, anarchy, religion, the role of literature (literature as a political act)

(2) Postmodern perspectives:
virtual war, fear and absence, posthumanism, war as simulation, aesthetics of disappearance, unreason

(3) Genre:
songs, ghost stories, lyrics, films, biographies, autobiographies, diaries, journals, poems, graphic novels, etc.

(4) Cultural landscapes & psychology & society:
ethnicity, identity, corporeality, spatiality, intimacies, emotion and affect, trauma, memory, facets of fear

(5) War and gender:
masculinity, reassessment of the canon, women’s writing, queering the war

(6) Children’s and YA literature:
child’s perspective

Interested individuals are asked to submit an abstract in English of up to 200 words with complete contact information (name, institutional affiliation, mailing address, and telephone number) to war.and.words.conference@gmail.com.

Important Dates
Closing date for submission of abstracts: 15 June, 2014
Notification of abstract acceptance: 30 June, 2014

Please note that the organizers do not provide accommodation for the conference participants.

Contact Details
Mateusz Marecki (matmarecki@gmail.com, + 48 600 369 243)
Jakub Krogulec (jakub.krogulec5@gmail.com, + 48 698 625 087)
Wojciech Drag
University of Wroc³aw
Institute of English Studies
KuŸnicza 22, 50-136 Wroc³aw

http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=212272

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